Best For Baby
by Ultrawoman
Summary: FINISHED! Last chapter and Epilogue now up! Future Fic. Mia is happy when she realises she's pregnant, but will her happiness last...
1. Prologue

A/N : Okay, here is the prologue and the first chapter of my new PD future fic. Both are quite short but I will post more as soon as I can. It is not in diary form cos it would be too complicated later.

Please review and let me know what you think so far...

Disclaimer : Mine? As if!

"Pregnant!" Michael looked shocked and confused in about equal amounts, "How did this happen?!"

Mia looked amused when she said, "Do you need me to draw you a diagram?"

Michael smiled at her sarcastic tone.

"You are happy about this, right?" Mia checked that her boyfriend of six years was as happy about having a child as she was.

"Well it's a hell of a shock but...it's fantastic!" he smiled.

Mia jumped into Michael's arms. 

In just seven months, Michael Moscovitz and Amelia Thermopolis were going to be parents.

But could life really be that simple for the Princess of Genovia and her beloved Michael ?????

A/N : Now, on to Chapter 1.........


	2. Telling The Family

A/N : And here's the first proper chapter...

****

Michael and Mia stood silently in the centre of the converted fire station where Mia's Mom, Helen, and her husband, Frank Giannai, still lived. Michael's parents were there too, as was his sister, Lilly, all waiting in anticipation to hear the news that Mia dn Michael were so excited about telling them.

"So come on," we're all here. we're all waiting - what's the story?" Lilly was important as always.

"Well..." Mia started, "We're, well, I, that is to say..."

Michael said the words that his girlfriends struggled to find.

"We're having a baby!"

The room erupted in shreiks, laughs and congratulations until Mia's mom asked the dreaded question.

"Have you told your father and your grandmere?"

Mia and Michael looked at each other, then back at Helen.

"Not yet" Mia squirmed, "we were going there next. Do you think they'll be okay about it?"

Helen looked unsure but didn't want to voice her negative attitude, Lilly, however had a more positive outlook.

"I don't see you Dda can judge, I mean he wasn't married to your Mom when you were born"

Mia smiled at this but then looked concerned again.

"But whta about Grandmere?"

A/N : Please remember to review, and let me know what you think so far!


	3. Telling The Royals

A/N : Here is the next chapter, apologies that it is so short, but I will make up for the short chapters by trying to post more often, okay?

Thanx to all those who reviewed (max4cast, CrazyNut2002, Clavel, crissmas, FrannieGurl2006) and to those of you who haven't reviewed yet - please review v. soon!

Now on with the story.....

Disclaimer : I do not own these characters, the v. talented Meg Cabot does!

"That's, erm, well, it's wonderful" Mia's father stammered. Neither Mia nor Michael believed that the Prince of Genovia was truly happy about Mia's pregnancy.

"Dad, we didn't plan this but I'm glad it's happened, we're both glad and we want you to be glad too"

Phillipe smiled and hugged his daughter.

"Just make sure that it's a boy, you call it Phillipe" he smiled.

Mia noticed a slight look of disgust on Michael's face at this point. She remembered his thoughts on their child being a prince. He didn't like it much, especially if the boy was to be Prince Phillipe like it's grandfather!

Anyway, Phillipe shook Michael's hand and congratulated him too. Then the bomb dropped.

"When's the wedding?" he asked. 

Michael looked amused and asked innocently, "What wedding?"

"Well, if Mia's having a child you must be getting married"

Michael opened his mouth to make an answer when Mia's grandmere, Clarice, entered the Plaza room.

"Did I hear something about a wedding?" she sneered.

Mia was suddenly nervous and noticing this Michael took her hand and spoke for her.

"Ma'am, Mia and I are going to have a baby"

That was when Clarice fainted. It was a good five minutes before she came round again and the first thing she said was;

"A baby?"

Mia dared to take her grandmere's hand.

"Grandmere, Michael and I are so happy about this, I just hope you can be happy to"

Clarice was only half listening.

"When is the wedding, to be?" she asked.

"Not you too!" Michael sighed. "We are not getting married!"

At this, Mia thought her grandmere was going to black out again, but the result was actually much worse, she went mad in a way that only Clarice could.

"Young man!" she snapped, "You will marry my granddaughter, if you wish to see your child!!"

Mia looked shocked, so did Michael, but he was angry too.

"How dare you threaten me! You might scare Mia, but you don't scare me. I love Mia but it is my decision if and when I marry her, my decision and Mia's decision, not yours!" With that he took Mia's hand and moved quickly, out of the room and away from the Plaza before the Dowager Princess could say another word.

A/N : Go on then, click that blue button and REVIEW! (Sorry, did I say that a little loud?!) I need to know what you think so far!


	4. Love and Marriage

A/N : Wow, I am so happy - I only posted chapter 3 yesterday (29th) and I've already got 9 reviews on it! Thanx so much to all those who reviewed - CrzyDazy, max4cast, Clavel, Soryteller55, Sunkisses643, Cass, Lemon, Angel, Meg* - you are all wonderful and v.kind.

Here is chapter 4, for you and everyone else too. (Apologies that it's a bit short!)

Disclaimer : Meg Cabot owns the lot!

Mia cried all the way home. Life had been complicated ever since she'd found out she was a princess at the age of fourteen. Now she had got used to idea, plus she had Michael, which made things easier, but life was still not as simple as it might have been.

Mia's family had agreed that until she was actually needed in Genovia to rule (i.e. when her grandmother and/or father passed away) she could continue to live with her Mom in New York. 

She had stayed at home, with her Mom and her Mom's husband, Frank Gianini, until she left school. She was then considered old enough by everyone concerned to move in with her boyfriend, Michael, at his rented apartment.

Mia was required to have a limousine and a bodyguard (Lars was happy to remain as the princess's protector) and she was never permitted to go out alone. There were rules as to her behaviour in public and there were specific times when press conferences and trips to Genovia were vital, but, to a certain extent, Amelia Mignotte Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo was allowed to be just plain Mia Thermopolis. 

Now it seemed that her family, or at least her Grandmere, now it seemed her life was going to be taken over by the Genovian royals simply because she was going to have a child. It scared her a little, the whole being pregnant and giving birth thing, but she had seen her Mom go through it when she had Frank Gianini's baby. 

Mia thought about that baby, her half-sister, Holly, who was now four years old. She loved her half-sister very much but she couldn't help but envy her just a little bit, knowing that Holly would never grow up to be told one day she was in fact the Princess of some European country she'd never heard of! 

It had happened to Mia, and it would happen to her child too, she knew that, but this was not the only thing that worried her. There were two other points that bothered Mia more than anything else. 

One was that she knew her Grandmere would never allow the child to have a normal life and the other was Michael. 

Why didn't he want to marry her? 

Didn't he love her enough? 

They had been together five years now and were secretly in love with each other for years before that, so why should marriage be such a problem? Mia knew she should just ask him about it but he was still so angry and upset, she didn't really want to. 

She decided to wait until tomorrow, to give Michael a chance to calm down and think about everything that had happened, then she would ask him about it. She was afraid of the answer but the question would have to be asked;

'Why don't you want to marry me, Michael?' she rehearsed in the mirror, later that day, but no amount of preparation could have prepared her for the reaction she got.

A/N : Please everyone REVIEW! Getting loads of reveiws makes me wanna write more and update faster!


	5. The Choice

A/N : I'm back! Okay, first I have to say a huge thankyou to all those who reviewed, so THANKYOU to : Ashley, CrazyNut2002, Meg*, max4cast, Cass, laffsassyferret, anastasia, ILoveClarkKent and Caroline - you are all wonderful people! To aiteane, thanx to you too, and, don't take this the wrong way but what category should this go in if not angst? And because I got so many wonderful reviews I am posting TWO chapters! See the wonder that is the power of reviews!

Anyway, on to the story...

Disclaimer : No, none of these characters are mine!

"Mia, you know I love you, but..."

"But not enough to marry me!"

Mia had asked the dreaded question - why didn't Michael want to marry her? - and as she had expected, a row had followed.

"Mia, if things were different, I'd marry you tomorrow, like if you weren't a princess or..." Michael was interrupted my his girlfriend.

"But I am a princess!" she cried.

"Yes, I know, and I'm not saying that it's a bad thing but, you know s well as I do that I'm not cut out for bowing and scarping at the feet of a royal wife. I want to be my own person, I want to travel, I want to have a life and I do want to be with you but if we get married I'll end up having to change or we're going to drive each other crazy!"

Mia felt tears in her eyes. She knew what Michael was saying made sense but what could she do? She loved Michael but she couldn't change the fact that she was a princess.

"But I love you and I'm having our baby!" she sobbed, unable to think of anything else. Michael put his arm around her shoulders.

"I know and I love you too, but know it would never work between us if I was forced into being some kind of royal consort thing"

Mia was crying hard now and buried her head in Michael's shoulder. She didn't blame him for the way he felt and she did understand but her heart was breaking.

"I am sorry Mia" Michael said, holding her tight and trying to fight back tears of his own. Then he had a thought.

"Mia, what if you weren't a princess anymore?"

Mia moved to look him in the face.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, what if you gave it up, you know, abdicated or whatever, then we could get married and get on with our lives together!"

Mia looked shocked at Michael's suggestion.

"Are you asking me to choose between you and the people of Genovia?" she asked, moving away from him.

"Well, yeah, I suppose if you're going to be blunt about it.....yes, that's exactly what I'm asking you to do" Michael looked perfectly serious.

Mia walked away from him and circled the room with her hands on her head, desperately trying to take in what Michael was saying to her. 

How could she choose between the man she had always love - the father of her unborn child - and a country full of people who needed her if their lives were to be worth living?

A/N : Okay, now onto chapter 5...


	6. Grandmere's Plan

A/N : And here's the fifth chapter...

Disclaimer : Unsurprisingly, these characters still aren't mine!

"You are better off without him!" her Grandmere told her, but Mia was not convinced. Like her father had done before her, Mia had decided that her country and her love for it's people had to come before the love she felt for one other person.

"Then I choose Genovia!" she had told Michael, with as much strength as she could manage. He hadn't really said anything after that. Mia knew he had tears in his eyes, and she knew she had hurt him a great deal, but he'd had a choice too. He could have married her anyway, but he wouldn't. Perhaps it was best that they had split up, but Mia had yet to work out why. Once Mia had told Michael her decision he had walked out of the room, the building and out of her life - forever.

"How can I be better off without him?" she sobbed to her Grandmere, Clarice, "I love him and he's the father of my child" she continued, placing her hand over her stomach.

"If he was not prepared to marry you, he cannot love you as much as you profess to love him, anyway, your relationship was kept a secret from the press, no-one will know it is his child, we will simply tell everyone it id your husband's child"

Mia looked confused.

"My husband?"

"Well, naturally" Clarice could not understand why her granddaughter was so baffled by the concept, "there are plenty of young men willing to marry a Princess, even one who is carrying the child of another man. We will simply say that your child was born early and everyone will believe it is the child of your husband"

Mia's head was swimming. How could her Grandmere be so cold, so blunt about it?! And who exactly did she plan to marry her off to?!

"I don't understand!"

"Amelia, it is quite simple" her Grandmere began, "I will find a suitable match for you that is willing to take the role of consort and also to take this child of yours as his own. We cannot have the press and public finding out that you are with child out of wedlock"

"Why not?!" Mia screamed, "My parents were never married!" she was near hysterical, now.

"One royal scandal was quite enough, Amelia, and I will not tolerate another. Now, I have spoken to your father and he has agreed with me. However," and here her voice took a disgusted tone, "Your father has made me promise to allow you a week to make your decision"

"My decision about what?" Mia was relieved she seemed to have found a get-out clause but she was not exactly sure what it was. She listened intently when Clarice answered her because if there was any way of preventing her life from being even more ruined than it already was she wanted to know about it.

"You will either find yourself a suitable match, which must be approved by me, or you will marry a suitor that I find for you, or there is a third option..." she trailed off, as if she did not want to have to say what the third option was. Mia urged her to go on.

"Or you will have to give up the child" Clarice said quietly.

Mia knew she did not been adoption. She meant abortion. She could not do that to her baby, not to herself, and not to Michael, even though he would never see the child, it was a part of him, the only part Mia had left and she would not let it go.

"I will find my own husband, if I can" Mia said, suddenly calm, "If I can't, I will marry your choice" She said the whole thing without expression or emotion - she didn't have any feelings about it, she was numb.

As a teenager, Mia had worried about silly things, she remembered. Her yield sign hair, her algebra grade, her crush on her best friends brother. Back then, they were the important things, she couldn't believe how much her life had changed. Her high school days seemed a million years ago now, and her life was changing again.

A new baby, a new life, a new husband, unless Michael changed his mind. She wandered out of the Plaza, trying to absorb the information she had been given. She was thinking about Michael, how she could convince him to marry her, but she knew it would be unfair to force him, it would only make both of them unhappy in the long run.

She was in a daze as she walked down to the car. Lars, who was slightly ahead of her opened the door of the limousine, but Mia was in a world of her own and wandered right past her bodyguard and into the busy street. Noticing this, Lars closed the door and turned to fetch the Princess but she was out of his reach and both she and himself were in danger of being hit by the oncoming traffic. Lars continued to dodge cars whilst Mia moved further and further away from him.

Suddenly, a Jaguar came speeding towards Mia who had almost completely stopped, right in the middle of the road. The driver, seeing someone in the road, put on the brakes as hard as he could and the car stopped centimetres from Mia's body.

Lars, who was still desperately fighting his way through the traffic, saw the driver climb out of the Jaguar and head towards Mia. He was worried that this man would be an attacker or lunatic who might kidnap the Princess, but he need not have worried.

"Mia?" said a familiar voice. The screeching of the car's brakes had brought Mia out of her daze and she peered up at the man. He was quite tall and not completely unattractive, Mia knew him immediately. She was not used to seeing him so smartly dressed but he hadn't changed that much. Feeling emotionally exhausted and grateful for any familiar being, Mia cried and flung herself into the arms of a very shocked, Kenny Showalter.

A/N : Are you shocked?! Let me know what you think, in a nice way please! I love your reviews and I always post faster if I get loads of nice reviews! (btw did I spell Kenny's surname right?)


	7. A Blast From The Past

A/N : Okay, let's start with the reviews;

To Kia and Cal - no offence taken, thanx for the review

To Dez - if you don't like Kenny you might not like where this stories heading but please keep reading anyway

To sapofbks2002 - thanx

To max4cast - sorry I shocked you, please keep reading

To Meg* - A Michael chapter should be coming soon

To caroline - I'm continuing as fast as I can

To anastasia - thanx

To athena - thanx

To Angelgirlfm - sorry, but I have other plans at the mo. but please keep reading cos I might change my mind, you never know!

I think I mentioned everybody, you are all v. kind for reviewing my little fic.

Now on with the story...

Disclaimer : Meg Cabot owns the lot - not me!

****

At the back of a cafe, not far from the Plaza, Princess Amelia Mignotte Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo sat sipping coffee and tryng to stay calm whilst her ex-boyfriend from more than six years ago, Kenny Showalter, held her hand to aid her comfort. Her bodyguard, Lars, sat at the next table, so as not to draw attention to the bewildered royal and her friend.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kenny asked Mia, gently.

"Talk about what?" Mia asked him, as if she didn't know what he menat.

"The reason you're upset, I mena, it's hardly normal for a princess to give her bodyguard the slip and walk out into the path of oncoming traffic"

"There's nothing normal about being a princess at all" she said, before a few more tears escaped her eyes. Mia knew her 'problem' was supposed to be a royal secret. If the puvlic and/or the press found out they would have a field day. She hadn't seen Kenny since they had graduated from Albert Einstein High. They had tried to stay friends after they'd stopped being boyfriend and girlfriend but it was hard. Mia knew Kenny still loved her and she just couldn't feel the same, she only loved one man and that was Michael. Kenny knew how Mia felt too, but he had never stopped loving her, even now as they sat in the cafe, her in tears and him desperate to help if he could.

For no apparent reason, Mia told him everything. Really, it was a stupid thing to do because he could have told anybody, she had no idea if she could still trust him especially with this kind of secret, but she had to talk to someone. She had lost touch with so mnay of her old friends - Ling Su, Shamila, even Tina Hakim-Baba and now Lilly, because of the whole Michael thing. Mia understood that Lilly had to take her brothers side, family comes first, but it didn't make the fact that she'd lost her best friend any less painful.

Kenny sat and listened carefully as Mia told him everything, not just the last few weeks but the highs and lows of her whole life since high school. She ended by explaining about Michael and the baby and her Grandmere and the whole marriage fiasco. When she finally finished retelling the saga that was her life, Kenny loooked astonished.

"I can't beleive all that has happened to you since high school!"

Mia cried some more. She wished she could go back in time nad back to high school. The problems she thought she had then then were nothing compared to the problems she had now. She cried harder and Kenny put a sympathetic arm around her shoulders. It was nice to be held and to feel at least a little bit safe. Mia responded and hugged Kenny. He was surprised, but wrapped his other arm around her and held her tight. Then he had a thought.

"Mia, I want to help you and I think I know a way. Look," he pulled away from her and she looked up at him, "thsi is not exactly my style and this is not excalty a romantic setting but, will you marry me?"

To say Mia looked shocked would be an understatemnet. Her mind could not take in what she had heard. Kenny wanted to marry her? She said it to herseflf a few times. 'Kenny wants to marry me, he wasnts to MARRY me, he wants to marry ME!' It started to sink in and she thought seriiulsy about it. Who it be so bad? If grandmere approved it, and Mia could see no reason why she wouldn't, Kenny was a decent type of guy, why couldn't she marry Kenny. He loved her, she knew that, but she didn't love him. Perhaps she could in time. She hadn't been able to before but things were different now. At least she knew Kenny, surely marrying him would be better than marrying a prince or someone she hardly knew. Kenny seemed to read her thoughts.

"Mia, you can't marry someone you don't know, you have to marry for love. I still love you and I am willing to marry you and bring up your child as my own, if you want me to"

A/N : The more you review, the faster I update - that's all I'm saying!


	8. Gratitude and Love

A/N : Okay, so the cliffhanger was mean but it keeps you redaing so I'm not going to apologise for it. Anyway, thanx for all the great reviews - sapofbks2002, CrazyNut2002, Angelgirlfm, max4cast, melmarie89, princess miki, Meg*, Dez, Janie, lil-lost-angel, athena, Bluegirl18 - you guys are the best. Also thanx to athena for the offer of help, I'm okay at the moment but if I get stuck your the first person I'll email. And to all of you who mentioned Michael, I've already started the next chapter but I promise the one after that will explain what's going on with our Mikey, okay?

So, on with the story...

Disclaimer : I'm not Meg Cabot, so these characters aren't mine!

****

Mia knew she could never love Kenny the way he loved her, but she at least knew him and liked him. Was that a good basis for a marriage?

"Kenny," she said quietly, "I don't feel the same way about you as you do about me..." He interrupted her.

"I know that, I think I've always known that, but I'm still willing to marry you on any terms that you and your family have"

Mia didn't know what to say. This guy was willing to give up his life, his privacy and everything just to help her solve her problems and make her life more bearable.

"Then yes, Kenny," she said, "Thankyou, I will marry you"

He wanted to kiss her, he was so happy, but he refrained from doing so. Lars who had heard the whole thing felt awful. He knew how the princess felt about Kenny and he knew she was only marrying him for the sake of her family, her country and her child.

There was silence between the couple and so Lars intervened. 

"Excuse me, Princess, but may I suggest we tell the Dowager Princess your plans before the subject is discussed further"

Mia nodded, knowing that nothing could ever be firmly settled without her Grandmere's approval. 

"I'll use the phone in the limo" she said, "to call my Mom and Frank. I haven't even told them about Michael yet, let alone the fact I have to find a husband" just saying Michael's name made her want to cry again, but she was running out of tears and emotion, she felt almost completely numb as she walked out to the car, Lars on one side of her and her 'fiancé' on the other.

"Clarice said what?!" Helen Thermopolis-Gianini, screamed into the phone. She couldn't believe that her ex-mother-in-law was asking Mia to marry a stranger just because she was pregnant and the father of her child refused to be her consort.

"Mom, calm down, it's okay, really" Mia tried, "I've found a guy who'll marry me, someone I know" Kenny grinned widely as Mia said this, but Mia barely looked at him. "Now, I need you to come to the Plaza, I want to introduce him to everyone at once, that means you need to bring Frank and Holly too"

Helen agreed and once Mia had finished the call to her mother, she rang ahead to the Plaza and informed her Grandmere and her father that she was returning there and that her mother, Frank and Holly would be coming too. She did not tell them about Kenny. She simply said she had reached her decision about what she was going to do with her life. 

By the time Mia got off the phone for the second time, the limo had pulled up outside the Plaza. 

"Before we go in" Mia spoke to Kenny, "I have one more favour to ask you"

"Anything" Kenny smiled at her.

"If my baby is a boy, I know he must be called Phillippe after my father but his middle name will be Michael, I think even my Grandmere will allow me that, okay?"

"Mia, I will bring up your baby as my own but it will be first and foremost your child, you can call him or her any name you wish"

Mia smiled, she knew Kenny would understand. She got up and stepped out of the car door that Lars had recently opened for her.

"And Mia," Kenny said to her as he followed her out of the car, "If it's a girl, how about Michelle?"

"Thankyou" Mia smiled, taking hold of Kenny's hand, "for that and for everything you are doing for me and my child"

A/N : Please keep reviewing and I will post again ASAP!


	9. Finding Out

A/N : Wow - I am so popular! I've got so many reviews and I am so proud! Here is the big thankyou list for the chapter 10 reviews - Thanx to CrazyNut2002, Misty White, princess miki, Tianna, Lil' Bunny, Sunkisses643, sapofbks2002, FrannieGurl2006, little-princess, Meg*, jw, WNtrumpet and the two anonymous reviewers too - you guys are the best! Oh, and Meg* - your wish has come true - I am posting TWO chapters at once, but I can't promise I can keep up with doing that everyday! Anyway, this story is nearing it's end I'm afraid, just a few more chapters.

Anyway, here is the ninth chapter...

Disclaimer : For the 9th time on this fic - I am not Meg Cabot! 

Even after all this time, Mia still hated giving speeches, and this was to be one of the most terrifying of her life. She stood in the centre of her Grandmere's Plaza room, surrounded by her mother, her step-father, her half-sister, her father (the Prince of Genovia) and the Dowager Princess of Genovia known to Mia as Grandmere.

Mia took a deep breath and began;

"As you are all aware, Michael feels he cannot marry me, and so I need to find a husband so as not to cause a royal scandal when my baby is born" she swallowed hard to avoid being sick, then she continued, "I have found a man who is willing to marry me and with the permission of the people in this room, I will marry that man"

"Why won't Michael marry you Mia?" Holly whined, Helen told her youngest daughter to be quiet but Mia thought it was unfair to leave the child's question unanswered.

"Because Holly, he doesn't want to be a royal like me, but Kenny doesn't mind" Mia realised as she said it that she'd let the secret out in the worst possible way.

"Kenny?" Helen asked her older daughter, "not Kenny Showalter?"

"Would someone mind telling me who Kenny Showalter is?!" Grandmere shouted and Mia could think of no better time than now to bring the aforementioned man into the room. She signalled to Lars, who opened the door and Kenny walked in and went straight to Mia's side. 

"Everyone," Mia managed to say, "This is Kenny Showalter, my fiancé"

Everything after that was a blur to Mia. Everyone seemed to like Kenny, especially Grandmere, who was stunned by his smart clothes and perfect manners. It was agreed that Mia and Kenny would be married - Mia remembered that much, but beyond that all details of the afternoon were jumbled and confused in her mind, up until the end.

Mia had paid attention when the topic of announcements came up. Apparently, it was her father, Prince Phillippe, who must announce the marriage and Mia knew it would be on every TV programme and every newspaper front page that she was marrying Kenny Showalter. 

What pained Mia now was not that she was marrying a man she didn't love or that she had to bring up Michael's child without him. The thing that worried her was Michael's reaction. When he found out she was marrying Kenny, what would that do to him? 

She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't help it. She knew she would probably never know what he thought about it, but she could imagine it, and it wasn't a nice thought. 

She had no intention of deliberately hurting him but she knew hearing about her engagement on TV would hurt him, and it would probably hurt him a lot. She thought about calling him but doubted he would listen to her, besides, she would never have the guts to tell him about it, even over the phone.

He would have to find out like everyone else, in two days time when her father announced it to the press and the press announced it to the world.

A/N : On to chapter 10 for the long awaited Michael chapter...


	10. Brother and Sister

A/N : Here it is ; the long awaited chapter, explaining why Michael did what he did and what he's doing now...

Disclaimer : Still not my characters!

Since his argument with Mia, Michael had spent all his time alone in the apartment he and Mia had shared. She hadn't gone back there, she couldn't bear to and Michael knew it. He knew he'd hurt his precious Mia and he hated himself for it but she had hurt him too.

Being in the apartment, alone, for days, had given him time to reflect on what had happened. He'd been happy when Mia had told him she was pregnant but if he was honest it had kind of freaked him out to. Michael was not afraid of commitment as such, but the size of the commitment - becoming a father and a husband and a member of a royal family - was just too much to handle. He was twenty three years old, he wanted a career, a life, an existence beyond what he had now, but not the kind of existence he would have if he married a princess. 

'A husband?' he thought to himself, 'Yes, I could have handled that, and a father, I could probably have managed that too, but consort to a princess and future queen? No' Michael knew what his life would have been like if he had married Mia. He had seen her grow up amongst photographers and film crews, hounded by the press with barely a minutes privacy. They had spent years hiding their relationship and they had succeeded but only just. There had been several close calls but no-one ever found out that America's very own royal was dating and later living with Michael Moscovitz.

Since the break-up, Michael would not speak to anyone and he would not leave the apartment. Only twice had anyone seen him and both times that was his sister, Lilly. For all that Lilly said about her brother, all the insults she yelled at him, all the objects she threw at him, all the arguments she'd had with him, she had to admit she loved her brother very much and seeing him hurt was painful for her too. 

Every day, Lilly went to the apartment to see Michael but she only got passed the front door twice. The first time she almost wished she hadn't. The place was a mess and so was her brother. She was pretty sure he hadn't changed his clothes since his argument with Mia, he definitely hadn't eaten much. Lilly tried talking to him but he started off into space and acted like he couldn't even hear her. She could tell he'd been crying and it pained her to know he was so upset. She sat with him for a while but when she realised she was doing no good she left, promising to come back the next day. She did, but he didn't let her in. As usual, she went back everyday until he finally let her in, on the one day she wished he hadn't of bothered. He seemed a little better, he spoke at least but only to say 'hello' and 'thanks for coming', then he went back into the silence and the staring either out of the window or just off into nowhere in particular.

"Michael, I have to tell you something and you're not going to like this, but I think you have a right to know..." Lilly began. She got no response as usual, but she carried on regardless.

"You see, the thing is, yesterday, on the news they announced that someone had got engaged..." still nothing, as if he couldn't hear a word she was saying.

"Michael, Mia is marrying Kenny Showalter" she finished quickly. The reaction was incredible. Lilly had never seen anyone look so shocked in her life. Michael went as pale as is humanly possible and shook his head in disbelief.

"Michael, are you going to be okay?" Lilly asked with deep concern. Her brothers behaviour was starting to scare her.

"I don't believe it" Michael said, finally. Lilly was relieved that he'd said anything at all.

"It's true, it's all over the news, on TV, in the papers..." she stopped speaking when she saw the tears in her siblings eyes.

"Why?" he asked her, quietly. Lilly didn't know for certain but she had an idea.

"I guess, she has to marry someone so the kid isn't born out of wedlock, to stop the whole royal scandal thing" 

Michael collapsed in tears. At a sight like this Lilly would normally have laughed at what an idiot her brother was making of himself, but she had no reason to laugh. She loved her brother and she knew how much he had loved and still did love Mia. She put a sympathetic hand on her brothers arm and he spoke through his tears.

"It's my fault, I should have said yes, I should have married her. I shouldn't have made her choose, and now I've definitely lost her. I've lost Mia and my baby!" he wailed. Lilly felt tears well up in her own eyes as she tried to answer her brother.

"It's not your fault, you were scared and you wanted your own life, no-one can blame you for that" she told him. Part of her wished she hadn't of told him, but she knew he had a right to know. She had to give him the chance to change things.

"Michael," she continued quietly, "you have to make a decision now. The wedding is in one week, so if your thinking about changing your mind or anything, you have to do it fast"

A/N : Will he or won't he? You'll find out soon when I post some more. Don't forget I post faster, if I get loads of reviews! So click that blue button and let me know what you think!


	11. For The Love Of Mia

A/N : Well, I told you didn't I? More reviews = faster updates! Here is the next chapter but before we get to that I'd just like to thank the following people who reveiwed chapter 10; anastasia, little-princess, WNtrumpet, max4cast, reyn, Meg*, Phoebe, sapofbks2002 and the one anonymous reviewer too.

Now onto the next chapter... 

Disclaimer : Meg Cabot owns all the characters and I don't!

"You can still change your mind" Helen Thermopolis-Gianini assured her daughter as she noticed a single tear gauge a line through the previously perfect make-up on Mia's face.

"I can't" Mia told her, with a shaky voice, "I'm doing this for my baby and my country"

"You should be doing it for yourself too" her mother told her, but she acted as if she hadn't heard her and tried to fix the make-up that had been spoilt by the water from her eyes. She was only grateful that she had been allowed to get married in America and not Genovia. In the back of her mind she still hoped against hope that Michael might come back to her and she wouldn't actually have to go through with this marriage to Kenny, but if she was honest, she knew it wasn't going to happen.

"The cars here! The cars here!" Holly called, excitedly. Mia smiled, at least one person was truly happy about her wedding. The child came running into the room where her mother and half-sister were.

"The cars here!" she repeated, "Your Daddy wants to know if your ready" 

"Yes" Mia told her, "Ready as I'll ever be" 

As she stepped out of the room, her mother one side and Holly the other, she was met by her father (Phillippe), her Grandmere (Clarice), her step-father (Frank) and her bodyguard (Lars). They were all overwhelmed by how beautiful Mia looked in her wedding gown, with her styled hair and, now perfect again, make-up. Her father was as proud as he had ever been in his life, if not a little uncomfortable at the fact his daughter was marrying a man she did not love on the say so of her Grandmere and himself.

"Let's go" said Mia quietly, taking the arm her father offered her, and heading out of the front door into the crowds of press and public, towards the car that would take her to her wedding. 

One hour.

Michael knew that in one hour Mia would be married and he would truly have lost her forever. For a whole week, he had thought about Mia and Kenny. He had tortured himself, telling himself to get over her because she probably loved Kenny and not him. he probably loved Kenny all the time, right from when she went out with him at high school, but he knew it wasn't true. He had to admit that Mia did love him and he loved Mia and the only reason it was Kenny at the alter today and not him was because he had been an idiot. Michael knew it was too late now, you can't change the past. He had refused to marry the girl he loved - how stupid was he? He had had reasons but were they enough to constitute living in pain like this?

Fifty minutes.

That's all there was before Mia became Mrs Showalter. All of a sudden Michael was on his feet, he felt sick, he felt dizzy, but he was up and active. His body was not used to sudden movement after so many days of stillness and when he threw open the curtains the light almost blinded him, but he was determined in what he was going to do. In minutes he had forced his body into a shower and the into the first clean clothes he could lay his hands on, before picking up the phone and dialling his sisters' number.

"Hello" she said.

"Lilly! Where is it?!"

"Michael?" Lilly was stunned to hear his voice. "What's going on? Where's what?"

"The wedding, where is Mia getting married?" Michael continued loudly and impatiently, desperately trying to tie his second shoe.

"Er, St. Joseph's ," Lilly told him, "but, why?" she asked. (A/N: I made up the name of the church)

She got no answer to her question. She heard him yell 'thankyou' and then the line went dead. 

"Who was that?" Lilly's boyfriend, Boris, asked her as she hung up the phone.

"My brother" she smiled, now, "I think he may have finally come to his senses!" 

A/N : Well, are you on the edge of your seats? If you are, hang in there cos the next chapter is coming soon. Just one more chapter and the epilogue, I think. Please don't forget to review.


	12. I Do ?

A/N : Okay, let's start with the thankyous as usual. Thanx to sapofbks2002, swincc, ndblue123, CrazyNut2002, Sunkisses643, Meg*, little-princess, Ali Simmons, reyn, shammi, cassandra and FrannieGurl2006 for the reviews.

Now onto the final chapter and the epilogue of this fic.

Disclamier : I don't own any of these characters, Meg Cabot owns them all!

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God and this congregation to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony..."

Mia glanced around the church, as the ceremony began. Everyone seemed to be smiling. Her mother, her father, her Grandmere, all the guests from Genovia and beyond. The biggest smile was on Kenny's face, she noticed. He couldn't have looked happier if he tried. He had loved Mia for so long, but had to give up on his dream of being with her when he realised she didn't feel the same. Now, against all odds, his dreams had come true and would be with Mia forever. 

The princess realised she was probably the only person in the room who was not truly happy and smiling. Part of her was happy, the part that knew she was doing what was best for Genovia, her family and most importantly, her baby. But a large part of her was unhappy. She didn't love Kenny, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't. Whatever else happened, Mia's heart would always belong to Michael Moscovitz.

The press were everywhere. Photographers, TV reporters, journalists of every kind were outside the church, crammed together with their cameras, microphones and notepads. The royal wedding was the biggest event to happen in New York for a long time and everyone was excited. Behind the press, the public pushed and shoved for a better view of the church doors so that they would see the Princess and her new husband as soon as they emerged. Amongst this crowd, one young man was particularly desperate to push through the throng of people. Against all the odds, he made it to the front but it was no use. There was no way he was going to get to the church, through all the reporters - but Michael was going to try.

"Kenneth Daniel Showalter, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" [A/N : I made up his middle name]

"I do" Kenny answered, truthfully, smiling down at his bride. He had one worry though. For him it was easy to say he would marry Mia but it would be harder for her to say 'I do' to him. He knew that in her heart Amelia would always love Michael, but he had an eternally optimistic streak and hoped against hope that one day Mia would love him, Kenny, the way he loved her.

"Princess Amelia Mignotte Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Mia glanced around the church then back at Kenny, with a look of uncertainty in her eyes. She took a deep breath, before she answered.

"I......"

He'd made it. Right through the crowd, through the reporters and everyone. He'd even made it past security, since the head of it all was Lars. It had taken no explanation from Michael, Lars had let him straight through, knowing that the Princess would welcome an interruption to her wedding, if it came from the man she loved. 

Michael was just inches from the church doors as they burst open, almost knocking him over. 

The bride appeared, Princess Amelia in full wedding attire, arm in arm with her new husband, Kenny Showalter. The crowd cheered as the Genovian royals smiled and waved at the members of the public who had turned out for this spectacular royal occasion.

Mia swallowed hard, he eyes darting around the crowd, before settling on a familiar face. A broken-hearted Michael, stared back at her, tears visibly running down his face. He had been too late. The love of his life, the mother of his unborn child, his Mia, had married another man. Mia shed her own tears as she climbed into the limousine at the bottom of the church steps, but she did not take her eyes off of Michael, not until she was right inside the car.

"What's the matter?" Kenny dared to ask, when he noticed his bride's tears, inside the car. 

"Nothing" she sobbed her lie, "I'm just happy" she managed to smile. She sniffed and swallowed hard and found she didn't need to cry anymore. She laid her hand on her stomach knowing that maybe she hadn't done what was best for her but it was best for her baby.

A/N : Okay, I know that's not how you wanted it to go, but please calm down and read the epilogue and then review and let me know if you'd like to see a sequel to this. 


	13. Epilogue

A/N : Just the epilogue left and this story is all over!

Disclamier : The only charater I own is the new baby - he is my little invention. All the others belong to Meg Cabot.

"Congratulations, your highness, you have a beautiful baby boy!" 

Mia took the tiny child in her arms and cried. She cried with joy, she cried with fatigue and she cried with pure sadness. 

Here she held Michael's child and yet the tiny prince would never know it.

The door of the room opened to reveal Mia's family. 

Her mother, step-father and half-sister, her father, her Grandmere and Kenny, her husband.

"Everyone" she managed to say through floods of tears, "I'd like you to meet Phillippe Michael Thermopolis Showalter Renaldo, Prince of Genovia - ..."

She managed to smile, as she added,

"...my baby"

A/N : If you like I will write a sequel, cos I have a good idea for one but I will only write it and post it if you all want to read it. Thanx to all those who have reviewed this story, you lot are the best! 


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